Breath of Life by Walter Rane. Oil on Canvas. 48 x 28 in. From the Zion Art Invitational.

A special opportunity sit down, live podcast and Q&A with the renowned artist Walter Rane. One of the most recognizable LDS artists of our day, Walter Rane has inspired countless artists and has dozens of works featured in Church collections. This was recorded at the Historic Immanuel Church in Salt Lake City on September 16, 2016 in front of a live audience.

A discussion with Temple Architect Paul Monson and Temple Art Manager Arch Williams, who currently work designing LDS temples and commissioning art for their interiors. Paul & Arch will discuss the role of arts in the architectural designs and how creating contemplative continuity within temples is essential to each individual building.

We sit down with Colby Sanford to discuss a very, aesthetically different piece by Bruce Hixson Smith titled Jacob & Leah, now on view at the BYU Museum of Art in the Interpretation Thereof Exhibition. Sanford also discusses his background, training in ceramics, life in China, and the only four colors that matter.

Jacob & Leah by Bruce Hixson Smith. On View at BYU Museum of Art. Courtesy of the Artist.

For the first time, we sit down with a collector to get a new perspective on the state of LDS art and what it means to those who come to own those works. Cris owns several works, most notably a work by Brian Kershisnik on display at the LDS Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Learn more of what it means to be a collector and how to get started buying LDS art.

She Will Find What Is Lost by Brian Kershisnik. Collection of Cris Baird.

This week, we talk with the renowned artist Casey Childs to discuss one of his favorite religious works of art, Agony in the Garden by Frans Schwartz. Virtually unknown until the work came to BYU with the Sacred Gifts Exhibition, this work has become a favorite of artists and enthusiasts alike. Casey discusses Schwartz use of color and light and the ultimate effect of the emotion of the painting.

Agony in the Garden (1898) by Franz Schwartz. Oil on Canvas. Courtesy of Norresundby Kirke, Denmark.

Agony in the Garden at the BYU Museum of Art.

Take These Broken Wings by Casey Childs. Oil on Canvas. 48 x 24 in. Collection of the artist.

Greater Love Hath No Man by Casey Childs. Oil on Canvas. 60 × 96 in. Courtesy of the Church History Museum.

In this special episode, Micah and Eric announce the first Zion Art Invitational taking place in Salt Lake City from Sep 12-Oct 1 presented by the Zion Art Society. Learn more about the Invitational, the artists involved, and the events surrounding it in this special episode.

Artist Jenedy Paige discusses the devotional art of LDS painter Ron Richmond and how the ambiguity in his work helps her to better understand how her art can be revelatory to herself and others. Talking through Richmond's portrayal of the Resurrection helps inform the issues that she faces in portrayals of sacred imagery in her own work.

In this special episode, we speak with up-and-coming artist Gustavo Ramos who moved from Brazil, to Arizona, to Southern Virginia University and finally Salt Lake City to study painting. His studies have led him to the Hein Academy of Art where Ramos hopes to develop his talents in the vein of a personal inspiration, Walter Rane.

He is not here by Walter Rane.

Ramos' Master Copy from Cornelis Kruseman's Christ in the Home of Mary & Martha

In 1890, President George Q. Cannon sent 5 young artists from Salt Lake City to Paris to study painting in preparation of the completion of the Salt Lake Temple. After convincing the Church to sponsor John Hafen, Lorus Pratt, JB Fairbanks, Edwin Evans, and Herman Haag left for the Academie Julian to study painting under the great French Impressionists of the Belle Epoque. In this special episode, we discuss their background training, and impact on Utah Art in the 20th Century.

This week we stray a little bit from work by LDS artists in pursuit of becoming a "Mormon Michelangelo" to look at the Michelangelo at his peak. The tomb of Lorenzo de Medici, his patron, friend and father figure is a part of the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy where Hall studied marble sculpting and had a transformative experience in front of this renaissance masterwork. As the recent recipient of the Alex J. Etta Grant from the National Sculpture Society, Hall's work follows the traditional techniques started in Italy centuries ago.